03.18.15

Labor Secretary Perez Testifies Before House Committee

WASHINGTON – The Honorable Thomas E. Perez, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, appeared before the full Committee on Education and the Workforce today to testify on the Department’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

“The United States has emerged from the depths of the great recession, and job creation has resumed at a consistent pace,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA). “The choice before us now is whether we will choose to pursue prosperity economics or austerity economics. What will new jobs look like, and will they be living wage jobs or poverty wage jobs? Will our priorities concentrate wealth in the hands of the top 1% or will our policies grow and strengthen the middle class? Secretary Perez’s testimony addressed those questions today and I’m encouraged by the progress the Department is making.

Democrats on the Committee emphasized the need to raise the federal minimum wage, secure pay equity, expand apprenticeship programs, protect pensions and modernize outdated civil monetary penalties.

Secretary Perez identified the harsh consequences of sequestration, including nearly one million workers who have been turned away from American Jobs Center services and denied a ticket to the middle class. He highlighted how the FY2016 budget proposed by the Obama Administration supports American families.

“The President’s FY 2016 budget makes important investments in our nation’s workers, recognizing that our economic success is directly linked to the well-being of our workers and their ability to compete in the global marketplace,” said Secretary Perez at the hearing. “The budget invests in successful job training models, including apprenticeships, which can create pathways to good jobs and are used successfully by many of our global competitors. The budget includes new resources for reemployment and eligibility assessments and services for workers who are likely to be out of work for long periods, based on evidence that these services can shorten periods of unemployment and help workers get back on their feet more quickly. It also provides a 10 percent increase for the Department’s enforcement agencies, giving them the staff and tools they need to protect the wages, safety and health, and retirement benefits of the Nation’s workers.”

The Secretary’s full testimony can be found here.
 

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